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Re: Is owning slaves a sin.
The Bible allows for "slaves" or "servants". But under Mosaic law these were typically more like indentured servants than "slaves" in the early American sense. They were not to be abused and I believe that after 7 years they were eligible for citizenship in the land of Israel.
Slavery as we know it in the Americas was a brutal, inhumane, abomination against God. Nothing in the American slave trade reflects the biblical idea of servitude.
Given the nature of the church, slavery becomes problematic for the Christian. In Christianity there is no distinction between race, gender, age, or status of rank, royalty, or servitude. All are equal in God's sight. And so, the Christian ideal will naturally lead to a society wherein servitude doesn't exist and all are free.
Slavery, like polygamy, and the subjugation of women, were cultural evils that were tolerated. These things are not the Christian ideal.
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